Justifying typewriter



July 4, 1950 0.. G. OSWOLD JUSTIFYING TYPEWRITER Filed Oct. 15. 1947 ATTORNE INVENTOR 0. 6. OSWUL'D Patented July 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.- JUSTIFYINZ Z ZSEWRITER ternational Business Machines Gorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 15, 1947, serial No. 780,077

2 Claims. (Cl..19 '784) This invention relates to typewriting machines.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved justifying mechanism for typewriters and other typographical machines.

An object is to provide a justifying mechanism which is automatically set by movement of a typewriter carriage to produce a justified line when the copy is retyped.

An object is to provide an automatic justifying mechanism which is simple and has few parts to get out of order.

An object is tonpr'ovide an automaticjustifying mechanism which may be'readily applied to preseiit commercial typewriters without extensive alteration of the machine.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic View in perspective showing portions of the carriage of a typewriting machine and certain parts connected thereto and shows the justifying mechanism set in. neutral or non-justifying position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the justifying mechanism set in a justifying position.

In order to simplify the disclosure and more clearly show the invention, Fig. 1 discloses parts of a typewriti'ng machine in diagrammatic form and separated in such a manner as to more clearly show the relation of the parts and thus is a form of exploded view.

It will be understood that any suitable typewriter may be used but that one of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,165,301 may be selectedior purposes of disclosing the invention. This patent discloses a machine having provisions for mount ing'a hektograph tape with the charged side facing outwardly away from the platen. For purposes of the present invention it will be understood that the machine is equipped with a plain paper tape, instead of a hektogr'aph tape, which extends across the writing line to enable a draft of each line which is justified to be written before typing that line on a work sheet on the platen. After this line has been written in unjustified form, the frame carrying the paper tape will be swung upwardly and the operator will recopy the line from the tape in justified form, thereby enabling each line to be proof-read and justified immediately before going on to the next line.

In the drawings H] represents a portion of the typewriter carriage on which is rotatably z mounted the usual platen II and the tapesupporting arms [2 which maybe pivoted at 13, as inthe'above patent, to a part of the carriage frame. ,As in the patent, suitable mechanism maybe provided to hold the arms 12 in an elevatecl position whenraised. The arms 52, in any suitable manner, support a plain tape T which extends across the writing line on the platen II when the arms l2 arelowered as shown'in Fig. 1.

Inthe present case the usual carriage rack I4 is not secured to the carriage ID as in the'patentbut isslidably mounted on the carriage-by suitable means, such as the studs !5- and slots I la which-permit the carriage rack M to have limited movement relative to the carriage l0, parallel with the letter spacing movement thereof. The usual carriage spring drum [disconnected by atape 51 to the carriage Ill-in any suitable fashion. The carriage rack I4 is controlled by an escapement mechanism, not shown, which may be connected to the rack M by a suitable pinion It. It will be understood that, with the exception of the mount ingof the rack IQ for relative movement. any of the details-described above may take any of the forms: well-known in the art as the present in vention does not reside in such details of construction,

The rack M may be provided with a suitable extension or bracket Mb on which is pivoted at Me a, bell crank l9. One of the arms of the bell crank 19 extends transversely of the rack M and isconnected to the carriage in by a link it pivoted at ltato the carriage It. The other arm of the bell crank l9 extends approximately parallel with the rack l4 and is pivotally connected at Zia to a shoe'or block Zl riding in a'groove 22a formed in a track 22-. This track is pivoted at 23a to afixed bracket 23" which may be secured to a convenlent; part of the main framework of the typewriter. At its left hand end the track 22 is provided With-2a ciroular'rack 222) which meshes with a pinion z l'se'cured't'o a notchedlocking disk 25.

The pinion 24- and the locking disk '25 are journalled on a suitable fixed part of the main framework as by means of a pivot pin it. A torsion spring 21 which may be connected to the pinion 2Q and-to a fixed part of the machine tends to rotate the pinion 2'4 and locking disk 25 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1).

Cooperating with the locking disk is a locking' pawl 28 pivoted at 29 to a fixed part of the framework and urged in a clockwise direction into "engagement with the notches in the locking disk 25 by a spring 38. The locking pawl 28- is connected by link 3| to a bell crank 32 pivotally mounted at 33 to a fixed part of the machine. A justifier key 35 is connected by a link 35 to the other arm of the bell crank 32. When the justifier key 35 is pushed inwardly, the locking pawl 28 will be disengaged from the locking disk 25, permitting the spring 2'! to restore the track 22 to the normal or non-justifying position shown in Fig. 1, if it is not in that position, as determined by a suitable fixed stop, such as the lug 37 which may be mounted on or form part of the main framework. In Fig. 1 the track 22 is shown in the nonjustified position with the groove 22a extending parallel with the carriage rack 14 and the carriage is assumed to be in the left hand marginal position. In this position, the pivot Zia for the shoe 25 is co-axial with the pivot 23a for track 22 whereby the track is free of restrain of the bell crank l9 and may be freely rotated on the pivot 23a by the spring 2?. This permits a relatively light spring to be used in restoring the track 22 to the position shown in Fig. 1, it being merely necessary to return the carriage by means of the carriage return key or by hand until arrested by the marginal stop and then press the key 35 inwardly. If the track 22 is not already in the position shown in Fig. 1 but is in a justifying position as in Fig. 2, the spring 27 will rotate the locking disk 25 and pinion 2% counterclockwise and hold the track 22 lightly against the stop 31'.

With a work sheet W in place on the platen H and the arms l2 in lowered position the operator proceeds to type the first line of the draft to be copied on the tape '1, which is now interposed between the work sheet W and the types. When the carriage comes within a short distance of the right hand marginal position, the right hand marginal stop will trip the usual bell to warn the operator that she has only a few letter spaces left in which to complete the last word in the line. Conveniently the bell tripping mechanism may be so arranged that the bell is sounded within say ten letter spaces of the desired righthand margin. The operator now proceeds to finish typing a word that can be completed in the remaining space or types a hyphen, if the word is to be split, and presses the justified key 35.

In the process of typing the line on the tape T, the carriage l0 and the rack M will travel as a unit to the left to the position of Fig. 2, which represents an arbitrary position within the zone of ten letter spaces selected by setting the usual right-hand marginal stop. During the leftward movement of the carriage, the shoe 2| will travel along the track 22, riding in the slot 2211. Since the track 22 is now parallel with the rack Hi, the movement of the bracket l lb to the left will cause the carriage Ill and the rack M to travel together since, during this time, the bell crank i9 is restrained from rotating on the pivot I40. Thus the carriage if! and rack is are mechanically tied together with the link 28, the carriage being subject to the influence of the spring motor H3 and the escapement mechanism in the usual way.

When the carriage reaches the position of Fig. 2 and the justifier key 35 is depressed, the escapement pinion 18 will be incapable of rotation by reason of the escapement pawls not being in r exerts a force tending to rotate the bell crank IS in a clockwise direction. Thus, when the key 35 is depressed, the carriage spring drum It being stronger than the spring 21, bell crank 19 will rotate track 22 counterclockwise. This movement will rotate the pinion 24 and the locking disc 25 clockwise an extent which is determined by the number of letter spaces remaining for the carriage It to move before the right hand marginal stop arrests the carriage.

For example, if the operator terminates the line two letter spaces from the marginal position then the carriage will move two more letter spaces when the key 35 is depressed and will displace the track 22 horizontally or counterclockwise to a position such as Fig. 2. When the key 35 is released, the locking pawl 28 will lock the disk 25 in its new position, holdin the track 22 in the position of Fig. 2. The carriage is now returned and will travel to the right back to the position of Fig. 1 in which it is arrested by the usual left hand marginal stop. However, the track 22 will have been set at a small angle to its former position. In order to prevent feeding the tape T on the carriage return which occurs after the line has been written in draft form, any suitable means may be provided to lock temporarily the tape feed roller 33 in the patent or the tape may be fed by hand. The operator now raises the arms 12 and proceeds to retype the line, copying it from the tape T. As the carriage moves from right to left with the track 22 set at an angle, the carriage iii will be moved to the left relative to the rack Hi a very small increment with each letter spacing movement of the rack I4. This is due to the fact that the shoe 2| will be progressively moved forwardly or downwardly in Fig. 1 as it travels to the left, thereby imparting a clockwise rotation to the bell crank l9 which will tend to push the carriage if! a little further with each movement of the rack M. The bell crank it is proportioned so that the leverage ratio for the angular displacement of the track 22 is just sufiicient to bring the line out even. Thus, when the operator finishes typing the line, the right hand end of the line will conform to the desired right hand margin. If the line as first written terminates say at one letter space distance from the margin, the track 22 will be set at only a small angle since the carriage H3 will move only one letter space in setting the track 22. On the other hand, if the line is terminated,- say ten letter spaces from the desired margin, then the track 22 will be set at ten times as great an angle and will produce ten times as much rotation of the bell crank is in retyping the line.

After the operator finishes typing the line the second time she will return the carriage and press the justifier key 35 again to reset the rack 22 to the position of Fig. l and will then lower the arms 12 in readiness for typing the next 1ine in draft form.

No specific structure for feeding the tape T is disclosed and the patent is cited merely to show a conventional typewriter having suitable means for supporting the tape T along the writing line which permits the tape to be raised out of the way when the line is retyped. If desired the tape may be fed by grasping the tape to the left of the left hand arm (2 and drawing the tape to the left far enough to bring a fresh portion between the arms 12.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention, as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a justifying typewriter, a platen carriage, a feed rack mounted in said carriage for limited movement relative to the carriage in a character spacing direction, an inclinable track normally positioned parallel with said rack, a releasable indexing device for holding said rack in different positions of inclination, a stop for aligning the track in its normal parallel position, resilient means for holding said track in said normal parallel position, a key for releasing said indexing device to permit inclination of the track in relation to said carriage; a lever pivotally connecting said carriage and said rack and having a sliding pivotal connection with said track, said sliding connection being effective to cause said carriage to feed progressively greater extents than said rack as the inclination of said track increases; and power means connected to said carriage for driving the latter in character spacing direction, said power means being effective, when said indexing means is released by said key with the carriage at a given line end position, to move the carriage to a marginal position and to transmit movement through said lever to said track to incline the latter in proportion to the distance the carriage moves to the marginal position.

2. In a justifying typewriter, a carriage; carriage feed mechanism, including a feed rack mounted in the carriage for movement relative to said carriage in a letter spacing direction and a power device connected to the carriage for moving the carriage in letter spacing direction; feed controlling means interconnecting said carriage and rack for varying the extent of said relative movement including an inclinable track settable to different angles to vary letter spacing in proportion to the angle of inclination of said track, said power device normally tending to rotate said track in a direction to increase said angle of inclination; an indexing device for holding said track in its different set positions, and a, justifier key for releasing said indexing device to permit said power device to set said track.

OLUF G. OSWOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,040,888 Wells May 19, 1 936 2,112,942 Wells Apr. 5, 1938 

